AKCuisine

Of course, the one time I'm waiting patiently for a follow-up questionnaire from Hyatt Place is the one time that I don't receive one. So it goes.

But I had things to say! Comments that needed to be made! So I planted my tongue in my cheek, wrote out my observations, and emailed them off to the hotel's new GM.

Here's my message to the hotel:

Since I don't have a Likert Scale driven questionnaire to provide my input, you'll have to put up with receiving my responses in essay form.

1) I enjoy music as much as most other people. More than some people, perhaps. But I do not enjoy having a far-too-early-in-the-morning-wake-up-call-to-arms in the form of a hotel maid singing at top volume in the hallway near my room.

That particular lady - definitely a Maria Carey wanna-be - certainly has a set of pipes on her. She was also banging around on her cart as though she was channeling Cream's drummer Ginger Baker.

There's no way around it. She. Was. Loud.

Yes, Hyatt Place is a business hotel, not a resort. But not every guest is up and about, or out of their room, at O'Dark Thirty. And not every guest wants to be unexpectedly awakened in the wee hours, whether by raucous song or any other means.

My stays at the Hyatt Place in xxxxxxxx are typically poised in between two grueling stretches of work. This time my one night of sleep - which I'd blissfully hoped would extend from the evening of xxx until a decent waking hour on xxx - was potentially the last good sleep I'd get for the next 72 hour stretch of work.

But after the early morning hallway mash-up of 'The Voice' and 'American Idol' I was quite awake. I figured that I might as well try to get ready for the day.

Time to wash my face and brush my teeth. Or so I thought.

2) During past visits I've always seen Aquafresh toothpaste in the Hyatt Place rooms, so I didn't think twice when I ran out of Colgate the night I arrived. After all, I had just been at the hotel on xxx and remembered seeing personal care amenities stocked on the vanity. The next morning I was startled when I realized that there was no toothpaste anywhere in the room.

Ah, but no worries. Hyatt has personal care amenities available at the front desk. Right?

I traipsed downstairs - desperately trying to not breathe on anyone - and politely inquired about toothpaste. The desk clerk rummaged around in the back - no toothpaste. But she told me to wait, and asked another staff member to go check in the supply area. Ten minuets later - still no toothpaste. Another staff member went to check several empty rooms. All in all, it was an E for Effort -- but still no toothpaste.

I gave up. Another twenty minutes and an unplanned side trip over to Target, and finally I had some toothpaste.

The most puzzling thing of all was that the staff seemed to be as surprised as I was at the complete absence of toothpaste in any of the usual locations. It was as though a tribe of space aliens with very bad oral hygiene had landed in the vicinity, scouted around for a prime source of toothpaste, and in an instant beamed the hotel's entire supply directly up to their mother ship.

And so it goes.

3) On virtually every visit at Hyatt Place - and typically at the end of every stay at any other hotel - I'm asked at check-out, "How was your stay with us, AKCuisine?" This time? Not a peep. No comment like, "Thank you for staying with us." Or, "We hope you enjoyed your stay." Or, "Was everything satisfactory?"

Nada. Zip. Zilch. It was a robotic check-out that had less personal charm than if I'd stopped to sign out at the little electronic kiosk.

I hoped to be asked if there was anything that could have made my stay better. I had a few comments that I was more than ready to share. Alas, my hopes were dashed.

Obviously, I wasn't going to share my concerns with the morning clerk. Her mind was elsewhere. It felt like she just wanted me gone, and if that was the case, she probably wouldn't give a hoot about the Hootenanny Hotel Housekeeper or the Strange Case of the Vanishing Amenities.

On a brighter note, I've stayed at the Hyatt Place many times in the past year, and on most occasions my stay has been quite pleasant. I'm aiming for that to be the case when I pass through xxxxxxxxx again a bit later this month. Fingers crossed.

If you've managed to stick with this essay so far, you have my thanks for taking the time to read through my comments. I do hope my tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek tone provided a bit of amusement for you -- in addition to providing feedback about my recent stay.

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That's what they get when they fail to send me a follow-up survey after check-out.
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VA1379

You should have condensed the email. It is way too long. I would have made it 1/4 or 1/3 of your written length. GMs do not like reading long letters unless it is absolutely necessary, and your stay does not fall in that exceptional case.

AKCuisine

Ah, but I am a writer ... that is what sets us apart.

It would not have been at all satisfying to simply list the indicents 1 - 2 - 3. Condense it? Where would be the fun in that?

LA2CDG

You could share the name of the property, there's no harm in that. It's not like you are waiting for something to be resolved.

bigguyinpasadena

The bit about the toothpaste should be cut completely. It really makes you come across as a DYKWIA PIA. I always see the placement of such items as a marketing tool,not a hotel amenity.

"The housekeeping staff was overly loud in the early morning and woke me with her singing and noise making."

Anything more is for your entertainment and reduces the effectiveness of your complaint

CloudCoder

If we're all gonna vote, I think OP's message was witty, creative, well-written, a trifle long ... yet effective. Let's agree that most people don't have enough time to read long messages yet in this case the message was all about "them" and "their hotel". People's attitudes change when the message is personally interesting to them. I think that the responsible people would read the message with great attention and appreciation. Just an opinion.

AKCuisine

Thank you for the kind words, SquareDanceGuy. May I have the next dance?

I just received a reply from the hotel GM and he seems to have been in your camp -- he paid attention. His response is posted below.

AKCuisine

Here is the reply I received this morning from the hotel GM. The smiley faces are not mine -- they were included in the original that was cut/pasted.

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Good Morning AKCuisine,

I would like to start off by thanking you for your response and for a humorous start to my week I truly do apologize for the American Idol tryouts that were occurring near your room at such an early hour, this is the first time I have heard of this and it has already been addressed with that department's supervisor.

As far as the lack of toothpaste goes (in the entire hotel apparently), I can offer no excuse. In looking into our shipping records it appears that our monthly shipment arrived on 4/8 so I can only assume that March was a very busy toothpaste month, but again, the toothpaste in the room is a Hyatt Place standard and I apologize that it was not there. I understand that the little things that one becomes used to can have a big impact, and in your case, a big inconvenience.

We truly do pride ourselves on our customer service and it upsets me that received anything less than outstanding service. I like to think that every person who works at the desk is a genuinely caring person and I hope, although is it no excuse for the sub-par service, that the desk agent was abnormally busy and was not able to focus her attention 100% on the task at hand. Again, that is no excuse and I am sorry.

I want to thank you for bringing these items to my attention as learning from our mistakes only makes us better. I also want to thank you for your continued business and we look forward to seeing you next week. If you have time while you are here, please stop by the desk and ask for me, it would be my pleasure to meet you in person. Thanks again!

Hyatt Place
General Manger

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He took the time to reply in detail, and I truly appreciate it. THIS is just *one* of the wonderful reasons why I continue to frequent this particular hotel and Hyatt chain in general.
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CloudCoder

I echo this sentiment. Every time I give feedback to Hyatt, I feel that they listen intently, care truly, and do something exactly to address the problem. I don't get that same feeling from most other travel suppliers.

mel14

This GM rocks!!

AKCuisine

Like you, SquareDanceGuy I was impressed with Hyatt's responsiveness even before this particular email exchange.

It's been the norm for me to receive an email follow-up from a Hyatt GM after completing one of the routine email-link online surveys -- even when the stay was fine and all of the survey's marks were high.

AKCuisine

I agree with you 210%, mel14! He deserves kudos and I plan to send a heads up note to corporate telling them he's doing a great job.

BTW, for those who have expressed concern, it will be a *short* note that is sent to corporate ...

Crazyhotelguy

Were we ever told which property?